Weaver’s Needle Bee 2024

January 12, 2024 – chilly & beautiful – ☀️ 54°

We gathered for our first Bee of the new year near the foothills of the Superstition Mountains, with our wonderful friends from Weaver’s Needle RV Resort Park. This is always one of our busiest Bees and this year was no exception, with 83 guests (including 9 AZ Blankets 4 Kids Board members). The sense of community and connectedness with old friends and new is a feeling to treasure and take with us throughout the year. Donna’s t-shirt explains it perfectly: Quilting is more than a hobby… it’s a Community!

We decided to try something new at this Bee and had no shortage of willing hands, curious minds, and a get-it-done spirit to pin our layered quilts. Typically we spray baste the layers together, but the spray is expensive and time consuming to apply. This gives our volunteers options. Some prefer pins and some prefer spray, so we’ll have some of both methods available at our next Bee. Our pinners did such a good job that we ran out of pins!

Our lunch was a delicious spread of salads (after morning coffee and homemade pastries). All of the food was provided by our generous hosts at Weaver’s Needle. Check out the smiles on our servers’ beautiful faces! They were as sweet as the treats!

A fan favorite was a Pineapple Pretzel Salad:

8 oz cream cheese (room temperature)
8 oz Cool Whip
16 oz can crushed pineapple (drained well)

Combine cream cheese and Cool Whip together until smooth. Fold in drained crushed pineapple. Chill.

1 cup pretzels (slightly crushed)
1 stick butter
1/2 cup brown sugar

Melt butter and brown sugar and combine. Toss with pretzels and bake at 350° for 10-15 minutes. Just before serving, toss toasted pretzels into whipped cream cheesy pineapple goodness.

Sylvia shared about New Song, our newest blanket recipient agency. As a division of Hospice of the Valley, blankets are given to children dealing with the loss of a loved one. Wrapping up in a blanket is a way to self soothe and New Song calls them “blugs” for blanket hugs. Doesn’t that just make you want to get stitching on a blug right now?! I believe with my whole heart that every cut, press and stitch that goes into a blanket carries our love with it. And that is a lot of love.

We had several big winners at this Bee! Wanda Sivertson, of Weaver’s Needle, won the bountiful door prize basket (styled and assembled by Board member Letty Fowell). Earlier in the Bee we announced that a lost ticket had been found and needed to be reunited with its owner. It turned out to be Wanda’s ticket! Jan Quam, of Weaver’s Needle, won a movie and snack pack for Harkins Theater. Sandy Powell, of Weaver’s Needle, was the high bidder and winner of a beautiful vase of vintage wooden spools that was kindly donated.

Letty Fowell has been a long time AZB4K Board member and past President. She has always resisted purchasing tickets for the 50/50 raffle, thinking it might be a conflict of interest. Board members aren’t eligible for the free giveaways, but we’re welcome to join in the pay-to-play chances. On a whim, Letty decides this is the Bee where she’ll purchase some 50/50 tickets. When the winning number is called, the room stays silent after everyone has checked their numbers. Letty suddenly remembers she bought tickets, pulls them from her pocket, checks the numbers and drops her chin in disbelief (see photo below). Saving up her luck all these years netted her a lucky prize of $191! The same amount went to our wonderful Weaver’s Needle hosts and was graciously accepted by Pat Haats on their behalf.